Iginla is a class act through and through. Every interview he does willingly and with a friendly demeanor, and having him represent the Pens is great for the organization and city of Pittsburgh. And, he's quietly produced as expected. Kudos to Shero for picking him up!

Officiating has been pretty ugh throughout the playoffs as a whole imo. From game to game, team to team, there is zero standard. You never know what you're going to get with these turds. I don't mind that someone with stature is criticizing it... I'm not defending him, but it is nice to bring the craptastic officiating to the forefront.

Just look at the holding call and James Neal last night. In what world is that a penalty? How is Brooks Orpik cross-checking a guy into his own crease, keeping him there, cross-checking him again to the ground, and then cross-checking him again to his face pretty much, in what world is that not a penalty.

The officiating has gotten progressively worse since the lockout ended. I don't know what the solution is, but these guys obviously are not catching everything anymore or are turning a blind eye to it.

SoupOrSam wrote:Officiating has been pretty ugh throughout the playoffs as a whole imo. From game to game, team to team, there is zero standard. You never know what you're going to get with these turds. I don't mind that someone with stature is criticizing it... I'm not defending him, but it is nice to bring the craptastic officiating to the forefront.

I definitely do not jump on OV as much as some pens fans like to, but what he did there has absolutely no credibility. He was speaking directly to the officiating costing his team, and his team alone, wins. That's not bringing it to the forefront, that's making an excuse and whining. It's also hard to take from someone who got away with about four different clear cut charges throughout that series.

Anyway, I really only wanted to make mention of it as a contrast to Iginla's off-ice character, which most in the NHL world have admired for over a decade.

Idoit40fans wrote:I don't think of Sakic having anything to do with that, my memory of that cup is Bourque lifting it. His location in the order of players hoisting the cup really has no part in that moment for me.

It's the opposite for me. Whenever someone talks about Bourque and the cup...the first thing I think of is Joe Sakic, simply because of how he did that.

Idoit40fans wrote:I don't think of Sakic having anything to do with that, my memory of that cup is Bourque lifting it. His location in the order of players hoisting the cup really has no part in that moment for me.

It's the opposite for me. Whenever someone talks about Bourque and the cup...the first thing I think of is Joe Sakic, simply because of how he did that.

ExPatriatePen wrote:I'm wondering if we still have a bunch of fans in Calgary pulling for the Pens in order to see Iginla get his first cup

Yes, somewhere around 1 million or so...

Iggy has been a quiet performer on the Pens, steadily putting up points and an absolute beast on the PP. His 5 on 5 play has not bee the greatest, but I have seen him play more defense 5 on 5 in 20 games with the pens than the last 2 seasons with the Flames.. maybe not being the top dog anymore has humbled him a bit. He was under siege last night on the CBC feed, but Hughson and Healy are huge Canucks homers and it is nothing new than for them to pick on a former Flame.

As for being a class act, there are few in the league that are on the same level of class as Jarmoe Imgla.

Sakic took the Cup and handed it directly to Bourque, he lifted it a few times then tried to hand it off, Sakic said no no, go for a skate. So Bourque took the Cup and skated around for a bit with it. It was a great moment and one hockey fans will remember for a life time.

For some reason I suck at embedding youtube videos on this forum, but here is the link:

yeah, i don't think ive seen an athlete with such an overwhelming upbeat and positive outlook while always smiling even after blowing a third period lead in the playoffs. he commented how when the pens were tied 2-2 that it could be really good for the pens and it was a good situation. his comments about geno in the paper today were exactly what a great teammate should say about a superstar when reporters in PIT especially seem to want nothing more than to be critical of 71. Iggy just seems like the nicest guy in the world.